A scientifically sound and artfully executed introduction to avian biology imbued with both wonder and accuracy.
This step-by-step overview of hatching addresses a gosling embryo directly.
Ackerman’s text cleverly oscillates between two registers: playful second-person commands to the unhatched bird (“Aim your egg tooth. Jab. Inhale”) and factual sidebars explaining embryonic development. This dual-track approach accommodates varied attention spans and developmental stages; younger listeners can follow the energetic main narrative with its satisfying verbs (“UNZIP!” “PIP!” “KAPOW!”), while older children can absorb the scientific details in the teal-bordered text boxes. The vocabulary delights, with phrases such as “pipping muscle,” “ta-tap,” and “don’t dawdle.” Bernstein’s digital illustrations make wonderful use of negative space, isolating the cream-colored egg and golden gosling against clean white backgrounds that focus attention on minute anatomical details and incremental progress. Bernstein’s rendering of textures proves particularly effective—the gosling’s down shifts convincingly from slick, matted wetness to airy fluffiness. The baby’s parent demonstrates subtle shifts in posture and expression (vigilant neck stretching during pipping, tender head-tucking with hatchlings) that convey attentiveness without anthropomorphizing. Cross-section views inside the darkened shell rely on dramatic chiaroscuro to illuminate the cramped embryo’s struggle, creating visual tension that culminates in a lovely payoff as the gosling emerges at last.
A scientifically sound and artfully executed introduction to avian biology imbued with both wonder and accuracy. (glossary, author’s note, selected sources) (Informational picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9780593811061
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2025
A solid addition to Rotner’s seasonal series. Bring on summer.
Rotner follows up her celebrations of spring and autumn with this look at all things winter.
Beginning with the signs that winter is coming—bare trees, shorter days, colder temperatures—Rotner eases readers into the season. People light fires and sing songs on the solstice, trees and plants stop growing, and shadows grow long. Ice starts to form on bodies of water and windows. When the snow flies, the fun begins—bundle up and then build forts, make snowballs and snowmen (with eyebrows!), sled, ski (nordic is pictured), skate, snowshoe, snowboard, drink hot chocolate. Animals adapt to the cold as well. “Birds grow more feathers” (there’s nothing about fluffing and air insulation) and mammals, more hair. They have to search for food, and Rotner discusses how many make or find shelter, slow down, hibernate, or go underground or underwater to stay warm. One page talks about celebrating holidays with lights and decorations. The photos show a lit menorah, an outdoor deciduous tree covered in huge Christmas bulbs, a girl next to a Chinese dragon head, a boy with lit luminarias, and some fireworks. The final spread shows signs of the season’s shift to spring. Rotner’s photos, as always, are a big draw. The children are a marvelous mix of cultures and races, and all show their clear delight with winter.
A solid addition to Rotner’s seasonal series. Bring on summer. (Informational picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-8234-3976-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
A ribald and uproarious warning to those unschooled in fishy goings-on.
Sharpson offers so-fish-ticated readers a heads up about the true terror of the seas.
The title says it all. Our unseen narrator is just fine with other animals: mammals. Reptiles. Even birds. But fish? Don’t trust them! First off, the rules always seem to change with fish. Some live in fresh water; some reside in salt water. Some have gills, while others have lungs. You can never see what they’re up to, since they hang out underwater, and they’re always eating those poor, innocent crabs. Soon, the narrator introduces readers to Jeff, a vacant-eyed yellow fish—but don’t be fooled! Jeff’s “the craftiest fish of all.” All fish are, apparently, hellbent on world domination, the narrator warns. “DON’T TRUST FISH!” Finally, at the tail end, we get a sly glimpse of our unreliable narrator. Readers needn’t be ichthyologists to appreciate Sharpson’s meticulous comic timing. (“Ships always sink at sea. They never sink on land. Isn’t that strange?”) His delightful text, filled to the brim with jokes that read aloud brilliantly, pairs perfectly with Santat’s art, which shifts between extreme realism and goofy hilarity. He also fills the book with his own clever gags (such as an image of Gilligan’s Island’s S.S. Minnow going down and a bottle of sauce labeled “Surly Chik’n Srir’racha’r”).
A ribald and uproarious warning to those unschooled in fishy goings-on. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: April 8, 2025
ISBN: 9780593616673
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
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